National NENA Conference keynote Speaker, Aron Ralston and Tim Webb, Winston County AL 9-1-1 Director.
Aron is the climber who amputated his own arm to save his life while canyoneering in Utah in 2003. Ralston documented the life-altering experience and his remarkable will to survive in his New York Times best-selling book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
His story has been adapted into a movie by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle. The film, 127 Hours, was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture. Thanks to the movie’s success, the book returned to the Best Seller’s list for another six weeks in 2010-11.
Aron was member of the Highpointers Club at that time and was the 137th person to complete the 50 state highpoints on April 20, 2005. He completed the contiguous 48 states in Alabama on April 9, 2005 on Cheaha Mountain. Tim is the Director of the Winston County E 9-1-1 Communications District in Winston County Alabama and currently is on his second stint as President of the Highpointers Club. The city of Haleyville, located in Webb’s 9-1-1 District, is home to the first 9-1-1 call made in the United States on February 16, 1968.
The Highpointers Club is comprised of over three thousand members whose goal is to hike or climb to the highest geographical point in each of the fifty states. To date Webb has climbed forty six of the fifty state highpoints. More on the Highpointers Club may be found at www.highpointers.org.